Smoked: Rojas Street Tacos Barbacoa Robusto

Smoked at: West Chester, Ohio

Rojas Street Tacos Barbacoa Robusto is made with Nicaraguan filler and binder with a toothy Ecuador Sumatra wrapper with some visible veins. The cigar band is a fiesta of colors with a mustache-wearing voodoo character. Recently I smoked the Carintas and was surprised by the spiciness mixing quite nicely with the Connecticut version of Rojas Street Tacos. Now we get to experience this blend with a Sumatra wrapper.

Charred wood (oak?), chalky earth, seasoning spice, pepper, cashews & peanuts, coffee, and somewhat sour creaminess Like the Carintas Connecticut version, the flavors include – or maybe meld into would be more appropriate – a barbecue sauce, salsa, chili peppers, a backyard firepit aroma of burning wood and BBQ meat roasting. There’s your “street taco” taste. How much is mind over matter – or cigar name and band over palate – is anyone’s guess. But I taste the flavors of tacos.

Good open draw, solid smoke output, an even burn line until the very end of the final third, and somewhat flaky ash that fell off a few times.

Despite all the “hot” flavors, the Rojas Street Tacos Barbacos is a medium bodied stick in my book. The strength edges toward medium-full. The retrohale is heavy on charred wood and pepper.